Continuing a pledge made in his second inaugural address,
President Barack Obama is ordering federal agencies to begin developing a plan
to address pay discrepancy among its more than 4.4 million employees.

In a memo sent from the White House last week, the president
ordered all federal agencies to submit policies on salaries and promotions to the
Office of Personnel Management with the next three months. The reports will
also include agency-specific policies that impact those returning to careers
after taking extended time off, such as women who leave the workforce to care
for children, as well as promotion and salary schedules for part-time workers.

With 90 days after receiving those reports, the OPM will
compile and submit a report to the White House on a plan to combat pay inequity
between male and female federal workers.

"The Federal Government is the nation's largest
employer. It has a special responsibility to act as a model employer,"
Obama said in the memo. "Today, women are paid 77 cents for every dollar
paid to men. At the same time, nearly two-thirds of women are breadwinners or
co-breadwinners for their families. Unjust pay disparities are a detriment to
women, families, and our economy."

Obama's directives include an analysis of whether the
government should change the worker classification schedule, known as General Schedule,
as well as methods for addressing starting salaries at federal agencies.

"While salary ranges in the federal workforce are generally
determined by law, the fixing of individual salaries and other types of
compensation can be affected by the exercise of administrative discretion. Such
discretion must be exercised in a transparent manner, using fair criteria and
adhering to merit system principles, which dictate that equal pay should be provided
for work of equal value," the directive states.

The equal pay issue was a part of Obama's second inauguration
speech, when he described it as "our generation's task" to solve.

"For our journey is not complete until our wives, our
mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts," he said
in the speech.

Recent Census Bureau information compiled by the American
Association of University Women shows that while the pay gap has narrowed over
time, progress has stalled in recent years. From 2001 to 2011, the gap between
men and women's pay narrowed by only 1 percent, with women's earnings as a
percentage of men's increasing from 76 percent to 77 percent.

Those figures change even more when broken down by racial
groups. White women earn 77 cents for each dollar earned by a man. Those
figures drop to 61 cents for African American women and 52 cents for Hispanic
women as compared to white men.

Among college-educated women, the gender pay gap was 82
percent, with women earning less in every occupation except bookkeeping,
accounting and auditing clerks.

In Alabama, the average male worker earns $42,951 a year; the
average female worker earns $31,862, the 44th worst state for gender
pay equity in the nation.

Previous efforts to lower the pay gap through legislative
efforts have met with strong opposition in Congress, which has twice rejected
the Paycheck Fairness Act. The act would increase protection for female
employees who file suit against gender discrimination.